Loose-leaf book



March 1o, 1925- C. D. TRUSSELL L00 SE LEAF BOOK .Filed Jan. 4, 1923 "WIM//Il/ INVENTOR 'j @gym/,

Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

p 1,529,454 UNiTEosTA'rEs PATENT OFFICE'.

CLARENCE D. TBUSSELL, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO TRUSSELL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, F POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YOBK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LoosELEAE 13001:.'l

Application led January 4, v1923. Serial No. 610,607.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE D. TRUS- sELL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improveinents in Loose-Leaf Books, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to loose-leaf books of the ring binder type, the leaves having marginal perforations engaged by hooks or half-rings which when closed together form closed rings. In such books the hooks or half-rings are commonly carried by plates or other carrying means which are acted on by spring pressure in such manner that when the hooks are closed they are held closed by the spring stress, and when opened they are held open thereby. Commonly a back plate of spring metal is employed, the turned-1n edges of which embrace theouter edges of hook plates which at their innen edges engage each other with a rocking joint so as t0 operate with, a toggle action by reason of the inward' pressure upon them of the spring plate. It has been common to cover the spring plate With a top plate or cover plate,

which has turned-in edges embracing within them the flanges of the spring plate. n

The object of thepresent'invention is to produce a book which shall be so thin as to be carried readily and conveniently in the pocket. l The ordinary loose-leaf books of the type above described are considerablythicker at the back portion where the binding devices are located than elsewhere, and the thickness of this back portion is such that many persons who desire a loose-leaf book for carrying in the pocket obJect to those of the ring type for this reason. As books of the ring type, the leaves of which are readily removable and replaceable'individually, are much more convenient and desirable than those of any other type, it is important to overcome the one defect of such books, namely, their undesirable thiclme at the metal portion or loose-leaf binding means..

According to the present invention the desirable thinness is obtained by resort to two new features of construction, namely, an improvement in the plate construction whereby the top plate, instead of embracing the angesof the spring back plate, is itself embraced between those anges, so 'that it does not add to the width ofthe book; and

H a reciprocal construction of the metal binding device and covers such that the greater part of the thickness of the rings and a portion of the width of the back-platek are received within the thickness' of the covers, so that the book is made thinner to the extent of the overlapping of the thicknesses of these members. The invention also provides other improvements in construction, as will be explained.

Referring to the drawings;

Figure 1 is an elevation of the back portion of a loose-leaf book, its covers being laid open flat, its hooks being open, and the L loose leaves removed.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line '2-2 in Fig. l, the hooks being closed.

4 Fig. 3 is a similar transverse section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1, the hooks being open. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the plane ofthe line 4 4 in Figs. 6 and 7.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section answering to Fig. 3, but showing the book closed. i

t Fig. 6 is an elevation of the hooks and hook plates removed.

Fig. 7 is a\related elevation of the top plate removed.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on the line 8-8 in Fig. 1, showing the opener and adjacent portions.

Fig. 9 is a transverse section on the line 9 9 in Fig. s.

The invention is shown as applied to a loose-leaf book of generally well known construction, comprising half-rings a of which three pairs are shown, mounted on or formed integrally with hook plates b b, these parts being shown' separately in Fig. 6,-and assembled within the inturned flanges of a spring back plate 0 of usual construction. The top plate d, shown separately in Fig. 7 is of special construction, its side flanres bein carried downwardly and outwardly within the anges of the back plate, as best shown in Fig. 2.

The cover e is shown as made of one piece of leather or similar material, the 'sides and back being continuous or integral, the back being clamped directly against the spring plate c by an outer binding plate f which is formed at its ends or elsewhere with ears g, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, which ass through the leather, and the ends of w ich are turned downagainst the concave side of the spring plate c, whereby to permanently lill' unite the two plates. The leather is grooved to make it thinner and more-flexible closely adjacent the back plate, whereb to form a ,sort of integral respect the hinge construction is the saine as set forth in my Patent No. 1,104,394, dated .MFE-121, i914.

hooks a a, and these portions are constructed to engage each other to form a sort of .hinge v the hook plates Y This construction may consi'st of a V-edge on the one pa`rt, andy a groove iii the other, to form a 'modified knife-edge hinge. The operation is that which is well understood in this type of binders, the spring back plate pressing inwardly against the portions h and thereby forcing the plates together, and the latter rocking on these knife-edged joints as the hooks open and close. The plates are in alignment at an intermediate point in .the movement, and buckle with the toggle action to either side of such position of alignment, so that the spring pressure is utilized to press the hooks together when closed, and hold them apart when opened.

It is usual but not essential in such ring binders to provide a top plate or cover plate which aiords a better finish than to leave visible. For this purpose the cover plate d is applied. This plate in the present construction is made of suitably thin metal, and is carried down between tlie iianges of the back plate, as shown at j j, its side portionsl being turned outwardly at lc c to enter within the hooked flanges of the back plate.` These out-turned iianges la are discontinuous, being notched away at Z Z opposite the 4outer projections h h of the hook plates to afford room for the latter to engage within the hook-flanges of the back plate. The top plate is, also more deeply notched at m m opposite the respective hooks a a to afford room for the hooks where they spring from the hook plates. The portions n of the top plate between the notches m come over the inner projections of the hook plates and serve to arrest their `upward movement, thus limiting the opening movement of the hooks as shown in Fig. 3.l v

The top plate is also by preference formed with end extensions p p of such shape that when the parts are assembled in place these may be bent down to thereby close-the otherwise open ends of the back plates c and form a neat finish. The width of the metal binding devices connection.

is not only reduced by bringing the anges of theftop-plate within (instead of outside hinge for the si es. lInthis` preferably coincident with' the gg of) the anges ofthe Jbacklate, but the latter flan es are embedde within the thickness o? the sides of the cover. This is accomplished by reducing the. thickness. of the cover adjacentthe side'iianges of the back-plate c as shown at e', e', so that when the book is closed, as shown in Fig. 5, these flanges penetrate Within the thickness of the sides, thus materially reducing the external thickness of the closed book at the back.

When the hooks vare closed and the covers are closed together, as shown in Fig. 5, the hooks are received within grooves or slots in the sides of the cover, as clearly shown in that figure. For thev utmost coinpactness the cover sides may be formed with slots g g as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and at the lower side in Fig. 5. These slotted portions receive the projection of the hooks fully within them, so that the .total thickness of the book is reduced to the diameter of the rings formed by th/e abutting hooks. But for a better external finish the sides of the cover may be formed with grooves as shown \at g in Fig. 2, and as shown at g in the upper part of Fig. 5, these grooves being of a depth somewhat less than the thickness of'theleatlier, so as to leave its outer surface integral, while yet receiving the greater part of the thickness of thel hooks within the grooves.

the grooves the book may be made with its By the use of either the slots or back or binding portion vso thin as to not I perceptibly exceed in thickness the remaining portion of the book When it is carrying its full complement of leaves. This is shown in Fig. 5where' the lines 7' r indicate the outer eaves of a full book, the thickness of the leavesbeing thus sliglitlyless than the inner diameter of the closed rings, and the covers bein of a thickness slightly greater than the thickness of the rings, so that the closed .book is of very nearly uniform thickness from back to edge.

To facilitate opening such a book it is desirable to have a rocking opener or thumbiece .si iThis is`sho`wn (according to m atent No. 1,468,846, dated Sept. 25, 1923i7 as formediof sheet-metal, in a plane coinciding with the medial plane of theV binding mechanism, namely, that indicated by the line 8-8 in Fig. 1, and formed as a lever passing through a slot t in the cover plate, with its thumb portion above this plate, and havin a rocking contact with the back plate c, so t iat it may be tilted by pressing down thethumb-piece s, and having a short arm u which engages under either one or both of the hook plates b b, so that when the thumbl piece is pressed down the upward movement of the arm u pushes up the meeting ortions of the hook plates and opens the ooks. `For better guiding this opener laterally the hook plates may be formed with prolonged ends or ingers 'v Pv, Figs. 6 and 9,

which extend along opposite sides of the opener. The escape of the opener when not in use is prevented by a projecting toe w which strikes against the under side of the top plate. When the top plate, with the hooks and hook plates, are slid longitudinally out of the back plate far enough to release the opener from contact with the latter, the openerA may be removed by tipping it up to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8. In this position al notch s in the opener is carried into engagement with the end of the slot t, whereby the projection w is brought within the length of the slot, so that the opener in ay be lifted out. Thisconstruction is mainly useful in the reverse operation of assembling the parts. The opener is guided laterally by the sides of the slot t,

l and by the inner faces of the fingers 'v lvfas shown in Fig. 9, whereby it is kept from tilting sidewise.

lVhile the described construction is the preferred embodiment of the invention, yet it is to be understood that it may be varied in matters of detail within the scope of th appended claims.

I claim as my invention: t

l. A loose-leaf book comprising a spring back plate, hooks, and hook carriers, the latter embraced between the flanges of the back plate with a rocking movement, and a cover plate having its marginal portions engaged between the edges of the back plate.

2. A loose-leaf book according to claim l, the hook carriers having outward projections engaged by the back plate, and the cover plate cut away coineidently with said projections. y

3. A loose-leaf book according to claim l, the cover plate having down-turned sides entering within the hooked edges of the back plate and having out-turned edges engaginounder the edges of the back plate.

4. loose-leaf book according to claim l, the hook carriers formed with inward p'rojections having a rocking engagement, and A the cover plate overlying such projections and adapted to arrest the upward movement thereof and thereby limit the opening movement of the hooks.

5. A loose-leaf book according to claim l, comprising spring-actuated hooksV and a cover which is partially cut'.' away opposite the hooks, so that the latter enter within the thickness ot' the cover and reduce the .thickness of the book.

6. A loose-leaf book comprising hooks and hook plates, a spring back plate, 'a cover plate having a slot, and an opener, the latter formed as a plate lpassing through said slot and normally confined in place thereby, having an arm engaging beneath the hook plates, and a toe projecting beneath the top plate, and having rocking contact with the back plate, said opener having also a notch adapted when tilted beyond itsA normal movement to receive the top plate beyond the end of said slot to permit the insertion of the opener.

7 A loose-leaf hook comprising hooks and hook plates, a spring back plate, a cover l plate, and an opener, the latter formed as a partly within the thicknesses of the sidesof' the cover when the book is closed.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

, CLARENCE D. TRUSSELL. 

